Performance analytics content gallery

ABSTRACT

A system and method for configuring a performance analytics (PA) software application is disclosed. The system may be disposed within a computational instance of a remote network management platform that remotely manages a managed network. The system may include a database of content plugins for configuring respective key performance indicator (KPI) modules, each implementing PA applied to an associated KPI of the managed network. Configuring the KPI modules may specify respective graphical configurations of a dashboard for displaying graphical representations of the associated KPI in a graphical user interface (GUI) within the managed network. A gallery of icons each identifying a plugin may be displayed in, and selected from, the GUI. A selected plugin may then be installed via a common plugin interface, whereby an associated KPI module becomes configured and ready for execution.

BACKGROUND

Managed networks may include various types of computer networks that canbe remotely administered. This management may involve one or morecomputing devices disposed with a remote network management platformcollecting information about the configuration and operational states ofsoftware applications executing on behalf on the managed network, andthen presenting representations of this information by way of one ormore user interfaces. The user interfaces may be, for instance,web-based user interfaces. In some instances, remote management ofnetworks may be provided by a third party, such as a service provider orvendor.

Some of the collected information may relate to key performanceindicators (KPIs). KPIs include any sort of measurement, reading, ordata that is relevant to the managed network. Thus, KPIs may reflectperformance of computing devices on the network itself (e.g., memoryutilization, processor utilization, transactions per second) orperformance of higher-level applications executing on the remote networkmanagement platform (e.g., a number of times per day that users on themanaged network have requested a particular type of technicalassistance). Among other capabilities, the user interfaces may be ableto display KPIs in numerous visualizations, such as charts, graphs, ortables.

The user interfaces and supporting applications that provide formonitoring, analysis, and visualization of KPIs may be implemented as aspecific facility or environment within an overall remote networkmanagement system. As such, a network management service provider orsystem vendor may be interested in how such a facility or environment ispackaged within the overall management system. For example, the serviceprovider or vendor may want to provide features and functions as atiered offering, with different levels available according pricing, forexample. The service provider or vendor may also want to considerfactors such as support of the monitoring and analysis system, includingupdate procedures. Other aspects may be of interest to the serviceprovider or vendor as well.

SUMMARY

In order to provide a monitoring and analysis system in a tieredoffering, a service provider or vendor may implement monitoring,analysis, and visualization of KPIs within an overall remote networkmanagement system as a Performance Analytics (PA) application programwith extendable features and capabilities. In particular, the inventorshave recognized that a PA application may be offered in a defaultconfiguration that includes functionality for monitoring, analyzing, andvisualizing a default set of one or more basic KPIs, and may further beexpandable to functionality for additional sets of KPIs. The basic andexpanded functionality then facilitates a framework for tiers or levelsthat may be priced accordingly for customers. Herein, a customer may bean enterprise, organization, or business, for example, that purchases orlicenses remote network management as a service from the serviceprovider or vendor.

The inventors have further recognized that there are a number oftechnical challenges to developing and deploying a PA application withina remote network management system. These include: organization of KPIsets and their associated programmatic implementations; accommodation ofcustomer needs to ensure that end users can invoke actions to extend thebasic PA application; convenience and efficiency of extending the PAapplication, taking account of the likely types of end users that willendeavor to extend the PA application; robustness to system updates,such that the service provider or vendor can effectively and correctlyvalidate updates before they are rolled out; and stability of thecustomer's configurations in the face of system updates, such thatconfigurations are not disrupted, for example. To address these, andother possible challenges, sets of one or more KPIs may be implementedas “configuration plugins,” and organized in a “gallery” that helpscustomers quickly and efficiently discover PA capabilities they may belooking for, and/or ones they might not necessarily have considered inthe absence of the organizational advantages of a gallery.

Accordingly, a first example embodiment may involve a system forconfiguring a performance analytics (PA) software application, whereinthe system is disposed within a computational instance of a remotenetwork management platform that remotely manages a managed network, thesystem comprising: a database containing a plurality of configurationplugins, each comprising content data for configuring a respective keyperformance indicator (KPI) application module, wherein each respectiveKPI application module implements performance analytics applied to anassociated KPI of the managed network, and wherein configuring therespective KPI application module specifies a graphical configuration ofa dashboard for displaying graphical representations of the associatedKPI in a graphical user interface (GUI) within the managed network; anda computing device operational to execute both the PA softwareapplication and a PA-configuring software program, wherein thePA-configuring software program is configured to: display, in the GUI, agallery of graphical identifiers, each identifying a respective one ofthe plurality of configuration plugins, receive, via the GUI, inputselecting one of the graphical identifiers, the selected graphicalidentifier identifying a particular configuration plugin, install in thePA software application, via a common plugin interface, the particularconfiguration plugin, and configure a particular KPI application modulecorresponding to the particular configuration plugin by writing thecontent data of the particular configuration plugin to correspondingdata definitions of the particular KPI application module.

A second example embodiment may involve a method for configuring aperformance analytics (PA) software application, wherein the method iscarried out by a computing device disposed within a computationalinstance of a remote network management platform that remotely manages amanaged network, and wherein the computing device is operational toexecute the PA software application, the method comprising: in agraphical user interface (GUI) within the managed network, displaying agallery of graphical identifiers, each identifying a respective one of aplurality of configuration plugins contained in a database disposedwithin the computational instance of the remote network managementplatform, wherein each of the plurality of configuration pluginscomprises content data for configuring a respective key performanceindicator (KPI) application module of the PA software application,wherein each respective KPI application module implements performanceanalytics applied to an associated KPI of the managed network, andwherein configuring the respective KPI application module specifies agraphical configuration of a dashboard for displaying graphicalrepresentations of the associated KPI in the GUI; receiving, via theGUI, input selecting one of the graphical identifiers, the selectedgraphical identifier identifying a particular configuration plugin;installing in the PA software application, via a common plugininterface, the particular configuration plugin, and configuring aparticular KPI application module corresponding to the particularconfiguration plugin by writing the content data of the particularconfiguration plugin to corresponding data definitions of the particularKPI application module.

In a third example embodiment may involve an article of manufactureincluding a non-transitory computer-readable medium having storedthereon program instructions for configuring a performance analytics(PA) software application, wherein a computing device operational toexecute the PA software application is disposed within a computationalinstance of a remote network management platform that remotely manages amanaged network, and wherein the program instructions, upon execution bythe computing device, cause the computing device to perform operationscomprising: in a graphical user interface (GUI) within the managednetwork, displaying a gallery of graphical identifiers, each identifyinga respective one of a plurality of configuration plugins contained in adatabase disposed within the computational instance of the remotenetwork management platform, wherein each of the plurality ofconfiguration plugins comprises content data for configuring arespective key performance indicator (KPI) application module of the PAsoftware application, wherein each respective KPI application moduleimplements performance analytics applied to an associated KPI of themanaged network, and wherein configuring the respective KPI applicationmodule specifies a graphical configuration of a dashboard for displayinggraphical representations of the associated KPI in the GUI; receiving,via the GUI, input selecting one of the graphical identifiers, theselected graphical identifier identifying a particular configurationplugin; installing in the PA software application, via a common plugininterface, the particular configuration plugin, and configuring aparticular KPI application module corresponding to the particularconfiguration plugin by writing the content data of the particularconfiguration plugin to corresponding data definitions of the particularKPI application module.

In a fourth example embodiment, a system may include various means forcarrying out each of the operations of the first and/or second exampleembodiment.

These as well as other embodiments, aspects, advantages, andalternatives will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artby reading the following detailed description, with reference whereappropriate to the accompanying drawings. Further, this summary andother descriptions and figures provided herein are intended toillustrate embodiments by way of example only and, as such, thatnumerous variations are possible. For instance, structural elements andprocess steps can be rearranged, combined, distributed, eliminated, orotherwise changed, while remaining within the scope of the embodimentsas claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic drawing of a computing device, inaccordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic drawing of a server device cluster, inaccordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 3 depicts a remote network management architecture, in accordancewith example embodiments.

FIG. 4 depicts a communication environment involving a remote networkmanagement architecture, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 5A depicts another communication environment involving a remotenetwork management architecture, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 5B is a flow chart, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 6A depicts a performance analytics dashboard in the form of agraphical user interface, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 6B depicts a performance analytics dashboard in the form of agraphical user interface, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 7 depicts a performance analytics configuration systemarchitecture, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 8A depicts performance analytics configuration system contentgallery in the form of a graphical user interface, in accordance withexample embodiments.

FIG. 8B depicts performance analytics configuration system contentgallery plugin detail expansion in the form of a graphical userinterface, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart, in accordance with example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example methods, devices, and systems are described herein. It should beunderstood that the words “example” and “exemplary” are used herein tomean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodimentor feature described herein as being an “example” or “exemplary” is notnecessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otherembodiments or features unless stated as such. Thus, other embodimentscan be utilized and other changes can be made without departing from thescope of the subject matter presented herein.

Accordingly, the example embodiments described herein are not meant tobe limiting. It will be readily understood that the aspects of thepresent disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated inthe figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, separated, anddesigned in a wide variety of different configurations. For example, theseparation of features into “client” and “server” components may occurin a number of ways.

Further, unless context suggests otherwise, the features illustrated ineach of the figures may be used in combination with one another. Thus,the figures should be generally viewed as component aspects of one ormore overall embodiments, with the understanding that not allillustrated features are necessary for each embodiment.

Additionally, any enumeration of elements, blocks, or steps in thisspecification or the claims is for purposes of clarity. Thus, suchenumeration should not be interpreted to require or imply that theseelements, blocks, or steps adhere to a particular arrangement or arecarried out in a particular order.

I. INTRODUCTION

A large enterprise is a complex entity with many interrelatedoperations. Some of these are found across the enterprise, such as humanresources (HR), supply chain, information technology (IT), and finance.However, each enterprise also has its own unique operations that provideessential capabilities and/or create competitive advantages.

To support widely-implemented operations, enterprises typically useoff-the-shelf software applications, such as customer relationshipmanagement (CRM) and human capital management (HCM) packages. However,they may also need custom software applications to meet their own uniquerequirements. A large enterprise often has dozens or hundreds of thesecustom software applications. Nonetheless, the advantages provided bythe embodiments herein are not limited to large enterprises and may beapplicable to an enterprise, or any other type of organization, of anysize.

Many such software applications are developed by individual departmentswithin the enterprise. These range from simple spreadsheets tocustom-built software tools and databases. But the proliferation ofsiloed custom software applications has numerous disadvantages. Itnegatively impacts an enterprise's ability to run and grow its business,innovate, and meet regulatory requirements. The enterprise may find itdifficult to integrate, streamline and enhance its operations due tolack of a single system that unifies its subsystems and data.

To efficiently create custom applications, enterprises would benefitfrom a remotely-hosted application platform that eliminates unnecessarydevelopment complexity. The goal of such a platform would be to reducetime-consuming, repetitive application development tasks so thatsoftware engineers and individuals in other roles can focus ondeveloping unique, high-value features.

In order to achieve this goal, the concept of Application Platform as aService (aPaaS) is introduced, to intelligently automate workflowsthroughout the enterprise. An aPaaS system is hosted remotely from theenterprise, but may access data, applications, and services within theenterprise by way of secure connections. Such an aPaaS system may have anumber of advantageous capabilities and characteristics. Theseadvantages and characteristics may be able to improve the enterprise'soperations and workflow for IT, HR, CRM, customer service, applicationdevelopment, and security.

The aPaaS system may support development and execution ofmodel-view-controller (MVC) applications. MVC applications divide theirfunctionality into three interconnected parts (model, view, andcontroller) in order to isolate representations of information from themanner in which the information is presented to the user, therebyallowing for efficient code reuse and parallel development. Theseapplications may be web-based, and offer create, read, update, delete(CRUD) capabilities. This allows new applications to be built on acommon application infrastructure.

The aPaaS system may support standardized application components, suchas a standardized set of widgets for graphical user interface (GUI)development. In this way, applications built using the aPaaS system havea common look and feel. Other software components and modules may bestandardized as well. In some cases, this look and feel can be brandedor skinned with an enterprise's custom logos and/or color schemes.

The aPaaS system may support the ability to configure the behavior ofapplications using metadata. This allows application behaviors to berapidly adapted to meet specific needs. Such an approach reducesdevelopment time and increases flexibility. Further, the aPaaS systemmay support GUI tools that facilitate metadata creation and management,thus reducing errors in the metadata.

The aPaaS system may support clearly-defined interfaces betweenapplications, so that software developers can avoid unwantedinter-application dependencies. Thus, the aPaaS system may implement aservice layer in which persistent state information and other data isstored.

The aPaaS system may support a rich set of integration features so thatthe applications thereon can interact with legacy applications andthird-party applications. For instance, the aPaaS system may support acustom employee-onboarding system that integrates with legacy HR, IT,and accounting systems.

The aPaaS system may support enterprise-grade security. Furthermore,since the aPaaS system may be remotely hosted, it should also utilizesecurity procedures when it interacts with systems in the enterprise orthird-party networks and services hosted outside of the enterprise. Forexample, the aPaaS system may be configured to share data amongst theenterprise and other parties to detect and identify common securitythreats.

Other features, functionality, and advantages of an aPaaS system mayexist. This description is for purpose of example and is not intended tobe limiting.

As an example of the aPaaS development process, a software developer maybe tasked to create a new application using the aPaaS system. First, thedeveloper may define the data model, which specifies the types of datathat the application uses and the relationships therebetween. Then, viaa GUI of the aPaaS system, the developer enters (e.g., uploads) the datamodel. The aPaaS system automatically creates all of the correspondingdatabase tables, fields, and relationships, which can then be accessedvia an object-oriented services layer.

In addition, the aPaaS system can also build a fully-functional MVCapplication with client-side interfaces and server-side CRUD logic. Thisgenerated application may serve as the basis of further development forthe user. Advantageously, the developer does not have to spend a largeamount of time on basic application functionality. Further, since theapplication may be web-based, it can be accessed from anyInternet-enabled client device. Alternatively or additionally, a localcopy of the application may be able to be accessed, for instance, whenInternet service is not available.

The aPaaS system may also support a rich set of pre-definedfunctionality that can be added to applications. These features includesupport for searching, email, templating, workflow design, reporting,analytics, social media, scripting, mobile-friendly output, andcustomized GUIs.

The following embodiments describe architectural and functional aspectsof example aPaaS systems, as well as the features and advantagesthereof.

II. EXAMPLE COMPUTING DEVICES AND CLOUD-BASED COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram exemplifying a computing device100, illustrating some of the components that could be included in acomputing device arranged to operate in accordance with the embodimentsherein. Computing device 100 could be a client device (e.g., a deviceactively operated by a user), a server device (e.g., a device thatprovides computational services to client devices), or some other typeof computational platform. Some server devices may operate as clientdevices from time to time in order to perform particular operations, andsome client devices may incorporate server features.

In this example, computing device 100 includes processor 102, memory104, network interface 106, and an input/output unit 108, all of whichmay be coupled by a system bus 110 or a similar mechanism. In someembodiments, computing device 100 may include other components and/orperipheral devices (e.g., detachable storage, printers, and so on).

Processor 102 may be one or more of any type of computer processingelement, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a co-processor (e.g.,a mathematics, graphics, or encryption co-processor), a digital signalprocessor (DSP), a network processor, and/or a form of integratedcircuit or controller that performs processor operations. In some cases,processor 102 may be one or more single-core processors. In other cases,processor 102 may be one or more multi-core processors with multipleindependent processing units. Processor 102 may also include registermemory for temporarily storing instructions being executed and relateddata, as well as cache memory for temporarily storing recently-usedinstructions and data.

Memory 104 may be any form of computer-usable memory, including but notlimited to random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), andnon-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory, hard disk drives, solid statedrives, compact discs (CDs), digital video discs (DVDs), and/or tapestorage). Thus, memory 104 represents both main memory units, as well aslong-term storage. Other types of memory may include biological memory.

Memory 104 may store program instructions and/or data on which programinstructions may operate. By way of example, memory 104 may store theseprogram instructions on a non-transitory, computer-readable medium, suchthat the instructions are executable by processor 102 to carry out anyof the methods, processes, or operations disclosed in this specificationor the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, memory 104 may include firmware 104A, kernel 104B,and/or applications 104C. Firmware 104A may be program code used to bootor otherwise initiate some or all of computing device 100. Kernel 104Bmay be an operating system, including modules for memory management,scheduling and management of processes, input/output, and communication.Kernel 104B may also include device drivers that allow the operatingsystem to communicate with the hardware modules (e.g., memory units,networking interfaces, ports, and busses), of computing device 100.Applications 104C may be one or more user-space software programs, suchas web browsers or email clients, as well as any software libraries usedby these programs. Memory 104 may also store data used by these andother programs and applications.

Network interface 106 may take the form of one or more wirelineinterfaces, such as Ethernet (e.g., Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, andso on). Network interface 106 may also support communication over one ormore non-Ethernet media, such as coaxial cables or power lines, or overwide-area media, such as Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET) ordigital subscriber line (DSL) technologies. Network interface 106 mayadditionally take the form of one or more wireless interfaces, such asIEEE 802.11 (Wifi), BLUETOOTH®, global positioning system (GPS), or awide-area wireless interface. However, other forms of physical layerinterfaces and other types of standard or proprietary communicationprotocols may be used over network interface 106. Furthermore, networkinterface 106 may comprise multiple physical interfaces. For instance,some embodiments of computing device 100 may include Ethernet,BLUETOOTH®, and Wifi interfaces.

Input/output unit 108 may facilitate user and peripheral deviceinteraction with example computing device 100. Input/output unit 108 mayinclude one or more types of input devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse,a touch screen, and so on. Similarly, input/output unit 108 may includeone or more types of output devices, such as a screen, monitor, printer,and/or one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs). Additionally oralternatively, computing device 100 may communicate with other devicesusing a universal serial bus (USB) or high-definition multimediainterface (HDMI) port interface, for example.

In some embodiments, one or more instances of computing device 100 maybe deployed to support an aPaaS architecture. The exact physicallocation, connectivity, and configuration of these computing devices maybe unknown and/or unimportant to client devices. Accordingly, thecomputing devices may be referred to as “cloud-based” devices that maybe housed at various remote data center locations.

FIG. 2 depicts a cloud-based server cluster 200 in accordance withexample embodiments. In FIG. 2, operations of a computing device (e.g.,computing device 100) may be distributed between server devices 202,data storage 204, and routers 206, all of which may be connected bylocal cluster network 208. The number of server devices 202, datastorages 204, and routers 206 in server cluster 200 may depend on thecomputing task(s) and/or applications assigned to server cluster 200.

For example, server devices 202 can be configured to perform variouscomputing tasks of computing device 100. Thus, computing tasks can bedistributed among one or more of server devices 202. To the extent thatthese computing tasks can be performed in parallel, such a distributionof tasks may reduce the total time to complete these tasks and return aresult. For purpose of simplicity, both server cluster 200 andindividual server devices 202 may be referred to as a “server device.”This nomenclature should be understood to imply that one or moredistinct server devices, data storage devices, and cluster routers maybe involved in server device operations.

Data storage 204 may be data storage arrays that include drive arraycontrollers configured to manage read and write access to groups of harddisk drives and/or solid state drives. The drive array controllers,alone or in conjunction with server devices 202, may also be configuredto manage backup or redundant copies of the data stored in data storage204 to protect against drive failures or other types of failures thatprevent one or more of server devices 202 from accessing units ofcluster data storage 204. Other types of memory aside from drives may beused.

Routers 206 may include networking equipment configured to provideinternal and external communications for server cluster 200. Forexample, routers 206 may include one or more packet-switching and/orrouting devices (including switches and/or gateways) configured toprovide (i) network communications between server devices 202 and datastorage 204 via cluster network 208, and/or (ii) network communicationsbetween the server cluster 200 and other devices via communication link210 to network 212.

Additionally, the configuration of cluster routers 206 can be based atleast in part on the data communication requirements of server devices202 and data storage 204, the latency and throughput of the localcluster network 208, the latency, throughput, and cost of communicationlink 210, and/or other factors that may contribute to the cost, speed,fault-tolerance, resiliency, efficiency and/or other design goals of thesystem architecture.

As a possible example, data storage 204 may include any form ofdatabase, such as a structured query language (SQL) database. Varioustypes of data structures may store the information in such a database,including but not limited to tables, arrays, lists, trees, and tuples.Furthermore, any databases in data storage 204 may be monolithic ordistributed across multiple physical devices.

Server devices 202 may be configured to transmit data to and receivedata from cluster data storage 204. This transmission and retrieval maytake the form of SQL queries or other types of database queries, and theoutput of such queries, respectively. Additional text, images, video,and/or audio may be included as well. Furthermore, server devices 202may organize the received data into web page representations. Such arepresentation may take the form of a markup language, such as thehypertext markup language (HTML), the extensible markup language (XML),or some other standardized or proprietary format. Moreover, serverdevices 202 may have the capability of executing various types ofcomputerized scripting languages, such as but not limited to Perl,Python, PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP), Active Server Pages (ASP),JavaScript, and so on. Computer program code written in these languagesmay facilitate the providing of web pages to client devices, as well asclient device interaction with the web pages.

III. EXAMPLE REMOTE NETWORK MANAGEMENT ARCHITECTURE

FIG. 3 depicts a remote network management architecture, in accordancewith example embodiments. This architecture includes three maincomponents, managed network 300, remote network management platform 320,and third-party networks 340, all connected by way of Internet 350.

Managed network 300 may be, for example, an enterprise network used by abusiness for computing and communications tasks, as well as storage ofdata. Thus, managed network 300 may include various client devices 302,server devices 304, routers 306, virtual machines 308, firewall 310,and/or proxy servers 312. Client devices 302 may be embodied bycomputing device 100, server devices 304 may be embodied by computingdevice 100 or server cluster 200, and routers 306 may be any type ofrouter, switch, or gateway.

Virtual machines 308 may be embodied by one or more of computing device100 or server cluster 200. In general, a virtual machine is an emulationof a computing system, and mimics the functionality (e.g., processor,memory, and communication resources) of a physical computer. Onephysical computing system, such as server cluster 200, may support up tothousands of individual virtual machines. In some embodiments, virtualmachines 308 may be managed by a centralized server device orapplication that facilitates allocation of physical computing resourcesto individual virtual machines, as well as performance and errorreporting. Enterprises often employ virtual machines in order toallocate computing resources in an efficient, as needed fashion.Providers of virtualized computing systems include VMWARE® andMICROSOFT®.

Firewall 310 may be one or more specialized routers or server devicesthat protect managed network 300 from unauthorized attempts to accessthe devices, applications, and services therein, while allowingauthorized communication that is initiated from managed network 300.Firewall 310 may also provide intrusion detection, web filtering, virusscanning, application-layer gateways, and other applications orservices. In some embodiments not shown in FIG. 3, managed network 300may include one or more virtual private network (VPN) gateways withwhich it communicates with remote network management platform 320 (seebelow).

Managed network 300 may also include one or more proxy servers 312. Anembodiment of proxy servers 312 may be a server device that facilitatescommunication and movement of data between managed network 300, remotenetwork management platform 320, and third-party networks 340. Inparticular, proxy servers 312 may be able to establish and maintainsecure communication sessions with one or more computational instancesof remote network management platform 320. By way of such a session,remote network management platform 320 may be able to discover andmanage aspects of the architecture and configuration of managed network300 and its components. Possibly with the assistance of proxy servers312, remote network management platform 320 may also be able to discoverand manage aspects of third-party networks 340 that are used by managednetwork 300.

Firewalls, such as firewall 310, typically deny all communicationsessions that are incoming by way of Internet 350, unless such a sessionwas ultimately initiated from behind the firewall (i.e., from a deviceon managed network 300) or the firewall has been explicitly configuredto support the session. By placing proxy servers 312 behind firewall 310(e.g., within managed network 300 and protected by firewall 310), proxyservers 312 may be able to initiate these communication sessions throughfirewall 310. Thus, firewall 310 might not have to be specificallyconfigured to support incoming sessions from remote network managementplatform 320, thereby avoiding potential security risks to managednetwork 300.

In some cases, managed network 300 may consist of a few devices and asmall number of networks. In other deployments, managed network 300 mayspan multiple physical locations and include hundreds of networks andhundreds of thousands of devices. Thus, the architecture depicted inFIG. 3 is capable of scaling up or down by orders of magnitude.

Furthermore, depending on the size, architecture, and connectivity ofmanaged network 300, a varying number of proxy servers 312 may bedeployed therein. For example, each one of proxy servers 312 may beresponsible for communicating with remote network management platform320 regarding a portion of managed network 300. Alternatively oradditionally, sets of two or more proxy servers may be assigned to sucha portion of managed network 300 for purposes of load balancing,redundancy, and/or high availability.

Remote network management platform 320 is a hosted environment thatprovides aPaaS services to users, particularly to the operators ofmanaged network 300. These services may take the form of web-basedportals, for instance. Thus, a user can securely access remote networkmanagement platform 320 from, for instance, client devices 302, orpotentially from a client device outside of managed network 300. By wayof the web-based portals, users may design, test, and deployapplications, generate reports, view analytics, and perform other tasks.

As shown in FIG. 3, remote network management platform 320 includes fourcomputational instances 322, 324, 326, and 328. Each of these instancesmay represent a set of web portals, services, and applications (e.g., awholly-functioning aPaaS system) available to a particular customer. Insome cases, a single customer may use multiple computational instances.For example, managed network 300 may be an enterprise customer of remotenetwork management platform 320, and may use computational instances322, 324, and 326. The reason for providing multiple instances to onecustomer is that the customer may wish to independently develop, test,and deploy its applications and services. Thus, computational instance322 may be dedicated to application development related to managednetwork 300, computational instance 324 may be dedicated to testingthese applications, and computational instance 326 may be dedicated tothe live operation of tested applications and services. A computationalinstance may also be referred to as a hosted instance, a remoteinstance, a customer instance, or by some other designation.

The multi-instance architecture of remote network management platform320 is in contrast to conventional multi-tenant architectures, overwhich multi-instance architectures have several advantages. Inmulti-tenant architectures, data from different customers (e.g.,enterprises) are comingled in a single database. While these customers'data are separate from one another, the separation is enforced by thesoftware that operates the single database. As a consequence, a securitybreach in this system may impact all customers' data, creatingadditional risk, especially for entities subject to governmental,healthcare, and/or financial regulation. Furthermore, any databaseoperations that impact one customer will likely impact all customerssharing that database. Thus, if there is an outage due to hardware orsoftware errors, this outage affects all such customers. Likewise, ifthe database is to be upgraded to meet the needs of one customer, itwill be unavailable to all customers during the upgrade process. Often,such maintenance windows will be long, due to the size of the shareddatabase.

In contrast, the multi-instance architecture provides each customer withits own database in a dedicated computing instance. This preventscomingling of customer data, and allows each instance to beindependently managed. For example, when one customer's instanceexperiences an outage due to errors or an upgrade, other computationalinstances are not impacted. Maintenance down time is limited because thedatabase only contains one customer's data. Further, the simpler designof the multi-instance architecture allows redundant copies of eachcustomer database and instance to be deployed in a geographicallydiverse fashion. This facilitates high availability, where the liveversion of the customer's instance can be moved when faults are detectedor maintenance is being performed.

In order to support multiple computational instances in an efficientfashion, remote network management platform 320 may implement aplurality of these instances on a single hardware platform. For example,when the aPaaS system is implemented on a server cluster such as servercluster 200, it may operate a virtual machine that dedicates varyingamounts of computational, storage, and communication resources toinstances. But full virtualization of server cluster 200 might not benecessary, and other mechanisms may be used to separate instances. Insome examples, each instance may have a dedicated account and one ormore dedicated databases on server cluster 200. Alternatively,computational instance 322 may span multiple physical devices.

In some cases, a single server cluster of remote network managementplatform 320 may support multiple independent enterprises. Furthermore,as described below, remote network management platform 320 may includemultiple server clusters deployed in geographically diverse data centersin order to facilitate load balancing, redundancy, and/or highavailability.

Third-party networks 340 may be remote server devices (e.g., a pluralityof server clusters such as server cluster 200) that can be used foroutsourced computational, data storage, communication, and servicehosting operations. These servers may be virtualized (i.e., the serversmay be virtual machines). Examples of third-party networks 340 mayinclude AMAZON WEB SERVICES® and MICROSOFT® Azure. Like remote networkmanagement platform 320, multiple server clusters supporting third-partynetworks 340 may be deployed at geographically diverse locations forpurposes of load balancing, redundancy, and/or high availability.

Managed network 300 may use one or more of third-party networks 340 todeploy applications and services to its clients and customers. Forinstance, if managed network 300 provides online music streamingservices, third-party networks 340 may store the music files and provideweb interface and streaming capabilities. In this way, the enterprise ofmanaged network 300 does not have to build and maintain its own serversfor these operations.

Remote network management platform 320 may include modules thatintegrate with third-party networks 340 to expose virtual machines andmanaged services therein to managed network 300. The modules may allowusers to request virtual resources and provide flexible reporting forthird-party networks 340. In order to establish this functionality, auser from managed network 300 might first establish an account withthird-party networks 340, and request a set of associated resources.Then, the user may enter the account information into the appropriatemodules of remote network management platform 320. These modules maythen automatically discover the manageable resources in the account, andalso provide reports related to usage, performance, and billing.

Internet 350 may represent a portion of the global Internet. However,Internet 350 may alternatively represent a different type of network,such as a private wide-area or local-area packet-switched network.

FIG. 4 further illustrates the communication environment between managednetwork 300 and computational instance 322, and introduces additionalfeatures and alternative embodiments. In FIG. 4, computational instance322 is replicated across data centers 400A and 400B. These data centersmay be geographically distant from one another, perhaps in differentcities or different countries. Each data center includes supportequipment that facilitates communication with managed network 300, aswell as remote users.

In data center 400A, network traffic to and from external devices flowseither through VPN gateway 402A or firewall 404A. VPN gateway 402A maybe peered with VPN gateway 412 of managed network 300 by way of asecurity protocol such as Internet Protocol Security (IPSEC) orTransport Layer Security (TLS). Firewall 404A may be configured to allowaccess from authorized users, such as user 414 and remote user 416, andto deny access to unauthorized users. By way of firewall 404A, theseusers may access computational instance 322, and possibly othercomputational instances. Load balancer 406A may be used to distributetraffic amongst one or more physical or virtual server devices that hostcomputational instance 322. Load balancer 406A may simplify user accessby hiding the internal configuration of data center 400A, (e.g.,computational instance 322) from client devices. For instance, ifcomputational instance 322 includes multiple physical or virtualcomputing devices that share access to multiple databases, load balancer406A may distribute network traffic and processing tasks across thesecomputing devices and databases so that no one computing device ordatabase is significantly busier than the others. In some embodiments,computational instance 322 may include VPN gateway 402A, firewall 404A,and load balancer 406A.

Data center 400B may include its own versions of the components in datacenter 400A. Thus, VPN gateway 402B, firewall 404B, and load balancer406B may perform the same or similar operations as VPN gateway 402A,firewall 404A, and load balancer 406A, respectively. Further, by way ofreal-time or near-real-time database replication and/or otheroperations, computational instance 322 may exist simultaneously in datacenters 400A and 400B.

Data centers 400A and 400B as shown in FIG. 4 may facilitate redundancyand high availability. In the configuration of FIG. 4, data center 400Ais active and data center 400B is passive. Thus, data center 400A isserving all traffic to and from managed network 300, while the versionof computational instance 322 in data center 400B is being updated innear-real-time. Other configurations, such as one in which both datacenters are active, may be supported.

Should data center 400A fail in some fashion or otherwise becomeunavailable to users, data center 400B can take over as the active datacenter. For example, domain name system (DNS) servers that associate adomain name of computational instance 322 with one or more InternetProtocol (IP) addresses of data center 400A may re-associate the domainname with one or more IP addresses of data center 400B. After thisre-association completes (which may take less than one second or severalseconds), users may access computational instance 322 by way of datacenter 400B.

FIG. 4 also illustrates a possible configuration of managed network 300.As noted above, proxy servers 312 and user 414 may access computationalinstance 322 through firewall 310. Proxy servers 312 may also accessconfiguration items 410. In FIG. 4, configuration items 410 may refer toany or all of client devices 302, server devices 304, routers 306, andvirtual machines 308, any applications or services executing thereon, aswell as relationships between devices, applications, and services. Thus,the term “configuration items” may be shorthand for any physical orvirtual device, or any application or service remotely discoverable ormanaged by computational instance 322, or relationships betweendiscovered devices, applications, and services. Configuration items maybe represented in a configuration management database (CMDB) ofcomputational instance 322.

As noted above, VPN gateway 412 may provide a dedicated VPN to VPNgateway 402A. Such a VPN may be helpful when there is a significantamount of traffic between managed network 300 and computational instance322, or security policies otherwise suggest or require use of a VPNbetween these sites. In some embodiments, any device in managed network300 and/or computational instance 322 that directly communicates via theVPN is assigned a public IP address. Other devices in managed network300 and/or computational instance 322 may be assigned private IPaddresses (e.g., IP addresses selected from the 10.0.0.0-10.255.255.255or 192.168.0.0-192.168.255.255 ranges, represented in shorthand assubnets 10.0.0.0/8 and 192.168.0.0/16, respectively).

IV. EXAMPLE DEVICE, APPLICATION, AND SERVICE DISCOVERY

In order for remote network management platform 320 to administer thedevices, applications, and services of managed network 300, remotenetwork management platform 320 may first determine what devices arepresent in managed network 300, the configurations and operationalstatuses of these devices, and the applications and services provided bythe devices, and well as the relationships between discovered devices,applications, and services. As noted above, each device, application,service, and relationship may be referred to as a configuration item.The process of defining configuration items within managed network 300is referred to as discovery, and may be facilitated at least in part byproxy servers 312.

For purpose of the embodiments herein, an “application” may refer to oneor more processes, threads, programs, client modules, server modules, orany other software that executes on a device or group of devices. A“service” may refer to a high-level capability provided by multipleapplications executing on one or more devices working in conjunctionwith one another. For example, a high-level web service may involvemultiple web application server threads executing on one device andaccessing information from a database application that executes onanother device.

FIG. 5A provides a logical depiction of how configuration items can bediscovered, as well as how information related to discoveredconfiguration items can be stored. For sake of simplicity, remotenetwork management platform 320, third-party networks 340, and Internet350 are not shown.

In FIG. 5A, CMDB 500 and task list 502 are stored within computationalinstance 322. Computational instance 322 may transmit discovery commandsto proxy servers 312. In response, proxy servers 312 may transmit probesto various devices, applications, and services in managed network 300.These devices, applications, and services may transmit responses toproxy servers 312, and proxy servers 312 may then provide informationregarding discovered configuration items to CMDB 500 for storagetherein. Configuration items stored in CMDB 500 represent theenvironment of managed network 300.

Task list 502 represents a list of activities that proxy servers 312 areto perform on behalf of computational instance 322. As discovery takesplace, task list 502 is populated. Proxy servers 312 repeatedly querytask list 502, obtain the next task therein, and perform this task untiltask list 502 is empty or another stopping condition has been reached.

To facilitate discovery, proxy servers 312 may be configured withinformation regarding one or more subnets in managed network 300 thatare reachable by way of proxy servers 312. For instance, proxy servers312 may be given the IP address range 192.168.0/24 as a subnet. Then,computational instance 322 may store this information in CMDB 500 andplace tasks in task list 502 for discovery of devices at each of theseaddresses.

FIG. 5A also depicts devices, applications, and services in managednetwork 300 as configuration items 504, 506, 508, 510, and 512. As notedabove, these configuration items represent a set of physical and/orvirtual devices (e.g., client devices, server devices, routers, orvirtual machines), applications executing thereon (e.g., web servers,email servers, databases, or storage arrays), relationshipstherebetween, as well as services that involve multiple individualconfiguration items.

Placing the tasks in task list 502 may trigger or otherwise cause proxyservers 312 to begin discovery. Alternatively or additionally, discoverymay be manually triggered or automatically triggered based on triggeringevents (e.g., discovery may automatically begin once per day at aparticular time).

In general, discovery may proceed in four logical phases: scanning,classification, identification, and exploration. Each phase of discoveryinvolves various types of probe messages being transmitted by proxyservers 312 to one or more devices in managed network 300. The responsesto these probes may be received and processed by proxy servers 312, andrepresentations thereof may be transmitted to CMDB 500. Thus, each phasecan result in more configuration items being discovered and stored inCMDB 500.

In the scanning phase, proxy servers 312 may probe each IP address inthe specified range of IP addresses for open Transmission ControlProtocol (TCP) and/or User Datagram Protocol (UDP) ports to determinethe general type of device. The presence of such open ports at an IPaddress may indicate that a particular application is operating on thedevice that is assigned the IP address, which in turn may identify theoperating system used by the device. For example, if TCP port 135 isopen, then the device is likely executing a WINDOWS® operating system.Similarly, if TCP port 22 is open, then the device is likely executing aUNIX® operating system, such as LINUX®. If UDP port 161 is open, thenthe device may be able to be further identified through the SimpleNetwork Management Protocol (SNMP). Other possibilities exist. Once thepresence of a device at a particular IP address and its open ports havebeen discovered, these configuration items are saved in CMDB 500.

In the classification phase, proxy servers 312 may further probe eachdiscovered device to determine the version of its operating system. Theprobes used for a particular device are based on information gatheredabout the devices during the scanning phase. For example, if a device isfound with TCP port 22 open, a set of UNIX®-specific probes may be used.Likewise, if a device is found with TCP port 135 open, a set ofWINDOWS®-specific probes may be used. For either case, an appropriateset of tasks may be placed in task list 502 for proxy servers 312 tocarry out. These tasks may result in proxy servers 312 logging on, orotherwise accessing information from the particular device. Forinstance, if TCP port 22 is open, proxy servers 312 may be instructed toinitiate a Secure Shell (SSH) connection to the particular device andobtain information about the operating system thereon from particularlocations in the file system. Based on this information, the operatingsystem may be determined. As an example, a UNIX® device with TCP port 22open may be classified as AIX®, HPUX, LINUX®, MACOS®, or SOLARIS®. Thisclassification information may be stored as one or more configurationitems in CMDB 500.

In the identification phase, proxy servers 312 may determine specificdetails about a classified device. The probes used during this phase maybe based on information gathered about the particular devices during theclassification phase. For example, if a device was classified as LINUX®,a set of LINUX®-specific probes may be used. Likewise if a device wasclassified as WINDOWS® 2012, as a set of WINDOWS®-2012-specific probesmay be used. As was the case for the classification phase, anappropriate set of tasks may be placed in task list 502 for proxyservers 312 to carry out. These tasks may result in proxy servers 312reading information from the particular device, such as basicinput/output system (BIOS) information, serial numbers, networkinterface information, media access control address(es) assigned tothese network interface(s), IP address(es) used by the particular deviceand so on. This identification information may be stored as one or moreconfiguration items in CMDB 500.

In the exploration phase, proxy servers 312 may determine furtherdetails about the operational state of a classified device. The probesused during this phase may be based on information gathered about theparticular devices during the classification phase and/or theidentification phase. Again, an appropriate set of tasks may be placedin task list 502 for proxy servers 312 to carry out. These tasks mayresult in proxy servers 312 reading additional information from theparticular device, such as processor information, memory information,lists of running processes (applications), and so on. Once more, thediscovered information may be stored as one or more configuration itemsin CMDB 500.

Running discovery on a network device, such as a router, may utilizeSNMP. Instead of or in addition to determining a list of runningprocesses or other application-related information, discovery maydetermine additional subnets known to the router and the operationalstate of the router's network interfaces (e.g., active, inactive, queuelength, number of packets dropped, etc.). The IP addresses of theadditional subnets may be candidates for further discovery procedures.Thus, discovery may progress iteratively or recursively.

Once discovery completes, a snapshot representation of each discovereddevice, application, and service is available in CMDB 500. For example,after discovery, operating system version, hardware configuration andnetwork configuration details for client devices, server devices, androuters in managed network 300, as well as applications executingthereon, may be stored. This collected information may be presented to auser in various ways to allow the user to view the hardware compositionand operational status of devices, as well as the characteristics ofservices that span multiple devices and applications.

Furthermore, CMDB 500 may include entries regarding dependencies andrelationships between configuration items. More specifically, anapplication that is executing on a particular server device, as well asthe services that rely on this application, may be represented as suchin CMDB 500. For instance, suppose that a database application isexecuting on a server device, and that this database application is usedby a new employee onboarding service as well as a payroll service. Thus,if the server device is taken out of operation for maintenance, it isclear that the employee onboarding service and payroll service will beimpacted. Likewise, the dependencies and relationships betweenconfiguration items may be able to represent the services impacted whena particular router fails.

In general, dependencies and relationships between configuration itemsbe displayed on a web-based interface and represented in a hierarchicalfashion. Thus, adding, changing, or removing such dependencies andrelationships may be accomplished by way of this interface.

Furthermore, users from managed network 300 may develop workflows thatallow certain coordinated activities to take place across multiplediscovered devices. For instance, an IT workflow might allow the user tochange the common administrator password to all discovered LINUX®devices in single operation.

In order for discovery to take place in the manner described above,proxy servers 312, CMDB 500, and/or one or more credential stores may beconfigured with credentials for one or more of the devices to bediscovered. Credentials may include any type of information needed inorder to access the devices. These may include userid/password pairs,certificates, and so on. In some embodiments, these credentials may bestored in encrypted fields of CMDB 500. Proxy servers 312 may containthe decryption key for the credentials so that proxy servers 312 can usethese credentials to log on to or otherwise access devices beingdiscovered.

The discovery process is depicted as a flow chart in FIG. 5B. At block520, the task list in the computational instance is populated, forinstance, with a range of IP addresses. At block 522, the scanning phasetakes place. Thus, the proxy servers probe the IP addresses for devicesusing these IP addresses, and attempt to determine the operating systemsthat are executing on these devices. At block 524, the classificationphase takes place. The proxy servers attempt to determine the operatingsystem version of the discovered devices. At block 526, theidentification phase takes place. The proxy servers attempt to determinethe hardware and/or software configuration of the discovered devices. Atblock 528, the exploration phase takes place. The proxy servers attemptto determine the operational state and applications executing on thediscovered devices. At block 530, further editing of the configurationitems representing the discovered devices and applications may takeplace. This editing may be automated and/or manual in nature.

The blocks represented in FIG. 5B are for purpose of example. Discoverymay be a highly configurable procedure that can have more or fewerphases, and the operations of each phase may vary. In some cases, one ormore phases may be customized, or may otherwise deviate from theexemplary descriptions above.

V. EXAMPLE PERFORMANCE ANALYTICS VISUALIZATIONS

As described herein, a visualization may take various forms. Generally,visualizations typically involve the presentation of KPIs in a graphicalformat.

KPIs may also be referred to as metrics or indicators. In general, KPIsare a type of performance measurement used to evaluate current and pastconditions, as well as to forecast trends. KPIs can be used to evaluatethe success of a particular activity, such as making progress towardstrategic goals or the repeated achievement of some level of operationalgoal (for example, zero defects, a mean time to resolution of less than24 hours for certain types of IT issues, or less than 70% processorutilization on a particular server device).

The act of measuring a KPI may be referred to as collection. KPIs areassociated with one or more KPI sources that define one or more fieldsin a database table (sometimes called a facts table) that are to becollected in order to provide the KPI data. KPI sources may also specifyfilters to include only a subset of the information in a field. KPIdata—e.g., measured or collected data—may be stored, possibly with otherKPI-related and PA-related data, in the database. The database for thesedata is referred to herein as a PA database.

A dashboard is single-screen GUI component that contains one or moretabs that logically group components that generally belong together. Insome embodiments, a dashboard may be equivalent to or contained within aGUI window. Tabs may be graphical control elements that allow multipledocuments or panels to be contained within a single dashboard. Tabs canbe used to switch between such documents or panels. Individual GUIwidgets may be present on such tabs. These widgets may display a KPI asa latest value, a time series, in a chart, in a speedometer, in a dial,in a scorecard, or in a column. Other variations are possible.

Breakdowns allow organization and filtering of KPI data on tabs anddashboards. In some embodiments, breakdowns may take the form of a dropdown GUI widget. Regardless, the KPI data can be divided in various waysbased on category. For instance, IT trouble ticket incidents can bedivided by priority or by originating department. In some cases,breakdowns can use these multiple ways of dividing data in tandem, suchas breaking down IT trouble ticket incidents first by priority, then byoriginating department.

A scorecard can be a dashboard, tab, or widget that displays datarelated to a single KPI (e.g., in a time series chart widget) andenables detailed analysis of this data. In some embodiments, each KPImay have an associated scorecard that is automatically created. The datamay be viewed by breakdown and/or in aggregate (e.g., counts, sums, andmaximums of the values). Scorecards may also provide ways of viewing thedatabase fields on which the KPI values are based.

Any of these elements (dashboards, tabs, widgets, breakdowns, andscorecards) may be considered a visualization, or components thereof,and can be user customized. For instance, a user can rearrange the tabsof a dashboard, add or remove widgets from a tab, and create newbreakdowns. The appearance of a dashboard, such as what tabs and/orwidgets are included, what formats of visualization are included, dataranges, etc., may be determined by one or more configuration settings.In some example embodiments, configuration settings, or just“configuration” for short, may be defined by various data elements andentities, including data tables, data records, variables, parameters,and the like, which can be stored in memory and used to control thecontent and appearance of the visual, analytical, and interactivecomponents that make up a dashboard. Setting and adjusting values of thedata elements and entities allows the appearance and function thedashboard to be set up, as well as adjusted or tuned.

Example dashboards are shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. Dashboard 600 of FIG.6A includes multiple tabs 602, such as an “Incident KPIs” tab, a “Tieranalysis” tab, and so on. The “Incident KPIs” tab is displayed, andincludes a widget in the form of a bar chart 604, titled “Open incidentsby age”. Bar chart 604 plots, for each day of an approximatelythree-month time period, the total number of open incidents for the ageranges of 0-1 days, 1-5 days, 6-30 days, 31-90 days, and over 90 days.These age ranges may be defined by the “Age” category of breakdown 606.

These incidents may be, for example, trouble tickets or help requestsopened with an IT organization. Each incident may therefore involve aparticular problem that a user has experienced, such as a computercrashing, a user being unable to log on to a service, slow performanceof a service, a request for new equipment, and so on. The ITorganization may track its performance by measuring how long it takes toresolve the incidents. For example, bar chart 604 suggests that therewere fewer open incidents near the end of the time frame than at themiddle of the time frame, but that the incidents near the end of thetime frame had remained open for a longer duration (i.e., there weremore open incidents in the 31-90 days age range).

Dashboard 600 may also include section 608, which includes three widgetsfor: the extent of the open incident backlog (in this case, there are422 open incidents currently), the first call resolution rate (in thiscase, 83.6%), and a seven-day running average of the mean time for anincident to be resolved (in this case, 3.08 days). This latter KPI mayalso be referred to mean time to resolution, or MTTR.

Dashboard 610 of FIG. 6B shows different example visualizations relatedto open incidents. This dashboard contains the same tabs 602, butincludes charts 612 and 614 instead of bar chart 604 and section 608.Chart 612 plots, for the same time frame of the visualization in FIG.6A, open incidents against the average age of these open incidents on adual y-axis graph. Chart 614 also plots open incidents, but includesrepresentations of the age distribution of these incidents.

Dashboards 600 and 610 also include various selectors, such asbreakdowns in the form of drop down menus that allow the user to viewthese KPIs in different ways. Regardless of their exact mechanisms,these dashboards allow the user to rapidly determine the status of theorganization's incident response KPIs through the use of visualizationsthat combine these KPIs.

The data displayed in bar chart 604, section 608, chart 610, and chart612 may be visualizations defined by a data model. Thus, informationdefining these visualizations may be stored in a database according tothat data model. The information may also be identified as representingone or more KPIs, and each KPI may be represented as one or more tablesin the data model. As demonstrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B, multiplevisualizations may use the same KPIs to provide different views of therepresented data.

VI. EXAMPLE PERFORMANCE ANALYTICS SYSTEM AND OPERATION

In some example embodiments, a managed network 300 may support themission and operations of an enterprise or other organization, while theinfrastructure that supports the management functions, operations, andtasks, including remote management, are provided by a third party, suchas a network management service provider. With such an arrangement, acomputational instance, such as computational instance 322 may beoperated (and possibly owned) by the third party service provider, andthe management services provided on a fee or subscription basis to theenterprise, which may be considered a customer or subscriber. Among themanagement services provided by the service provider, then, may beperformance analytics. The service provider may thus be interested inhow performance analytics is packaged, not just from a functional oroperational point of view, but as a paid service as well.

In accordance with example embodiments, performance analytics may beimplemented as a PA application program within or as part of acomputational instance 322. More particularly, the PA application may beprovided to customers or subscribers as a tiered offering. For example,the PA application may include default or base functionality withrespect to one or a few default or base KPIs, available as a base-leveltier, and may further provide for program extensions for additionalKPIs, available as one or more higher-level tiers. In an exampledeployment, the base-level tier may be provided with a basesubscription, while additional KPIs and/or tier levels may be providedat additional cost or other compensation structure. Other arrangementsare possible as well.

There can be other reasons besides subscription and/or tiered pricing toimplement performance analytics as a base PA application for base KPIs,with extensible functionality for additional KPIs. For example, thepotential number of KPIs for a managed network can be quite large,numbering in the 100s to 1,000s. However, a customer or subscriber mayonly be interested in a subset of all available KPIs at any given time.Similarly, the subset of KPIs of interest may vary from time to time.However, the computing and storage resources needed for concurrentinstallation of all the PA extensions may not necessarily beinsignificant. As such, selective use of PA extensions, rather thanwholesale installation of most or all available PA extensions, mayprovide benefits for operational efficiency of the overall PAapplication.

In a typical customer/subscriber usage scenario, there may be variouspersonnel of the customer organization that want to extend the PAapplication to additional KPIs from time to time, not all (or any) ofwhom may have administrative privileges (or the like) for makingprogrammatic adjustments or changes to the network management system.Accordingly, example embodiments provide for the ability for authorizedpersonnel (e.g., customer end-users) who normally lack administrative(or similar) privileges to make KPI extensions to the PA application.

In addition, the potentially large number of available KPI extensions,as noted above, may make discovery by end-users of KPIs relevant toparticular analysis tasks, or of interest to personnel carrying out thetasks, difficult or inefficient. Accordingly, example embodimentsfurther provide for an interactive mechanism for organizing andpresenting KPI extensions in an interactive format that aids customers'discovery, selection, and installation of KPI extensions.

As illustrated above by way of example, making PA visualizationfunctional for a given KPI involves configuring a dashboard for thegiven KPI. This applies for the base PA application as well asextension. Thus, example embodiments also provide for a streamlinedconfiguration process of KPI extensions selected by a customer. Thisallows non-expert users to install KPI extension, further removingpotential barriers that might otherwise arise from the large number ofavailable KPI extensions coupled with at least one common type of user(e.g., non-experts).

In addition to addressing challenges that end-user customers might facein navigating and configuring available KPI extensions to a base/defaultPA application program, example embodiments also help facilitate robustprocedures for the service provider to roll out system updates, as wellas help ensure the stability of the customer's configured KPI extensionswhen updates are rolled out.

In accordance with example embodiments, an extensible PA applicationprogram may be implemented with an architecture that draws on a pluginmodel for configuration of KPI extensions, while adapting the pluginmodel to address the operational environment in which the performanceanalytics may be used. In an example embodiment, the components andelements of an extensible PA application program may include a base ordefault PA application program; one or more KPI modules, each being aprogrammatic KPI extension and each including KPI module content; one ormore content packages or content plugins for installing correspondingKPI module content and configuring KPI modules; and an unlocking pluginfor activating or unlocking available KPI modules. Each of thesecomponents and elements is discussed further below.

A. Example Plugin Architecture

FIG. 7 depicts an example architecture that uses content plugins toconfigure KPI modules. As shown, the example architecture may beimplemented in a computational instance 322 of a remote networkmanagement platform, such as that illustrated in FIG. 3. Thecomputational instance in FIG. 7 may represent hardware and programmatic(e.g., software, firmware, etc.) elements and components used to supportremote network management of a managed network 300, such as that shownin FIG. 3 and also shown in FIG. 7. The managed network 300 may includea PA graphical user interface (GUI) 714, as shown, through which a usermay engage in various PA tasks and operations. The PA GUI 714 could,among other functions, display dashboards, such as those illustrated inFIGS. 6A and 6B. In the context of PA configuration, the PA GUI 714could also serve as an interactive interface through which a user mayengage in PA configuration tasks and operations of the example systemsand methods described herein. Various elements and components of thecomputational instance 322 and managed network 330 shown in FIG. 3 areomitted from FIG. 7 for the sake of brevity. Their omission in FIG. 7should not be construed to necessarily imply an actual absence of thesecomponents and elements in the illustrated example.

In accordance with example embodiments, the computational instance 322may include a PA application program 702, a PA configuration program704, a PA content plugin database 712, a PA plugin interface (I/F) 710,and a PA database 716. The PA application program 702 may include a baseprogram 706 and one or more KPI modules 708, which are labeled “Module1,” “Module 2,” . . . , “Module N” in the illustrated example. Asdescribed above, the base program may provide default PA functionalityfor a default one or more base KPIs, while the KPI modules supportextending PA functionality to one or more additional KPI. At a giventime, one or more of the KPI modules may be in a locked state or anunlocked state. A locked KPI module may be one that is part of acustomer's subscription but is not yet installed (e.g., in programmemory) and does not use any computing resources. When unlocked, a KPImodule becomes executable, and may account for and/or consume computingresources (e.g., program memory, processing cycles, etc.). By way ofexample, Module 1 and Module 2 are taken to be in an unlocked state,while Module N is taken to be in a locked state. The dashed line ofModule N is used as visual cue in the figure to represent a lockedstate.

The PA content plugin database 712 may take the form of a non-transientstorage medium, such as disk or memory, and include one or more contentplugins, labeled “Plugin 1,” “Plugin 2,” . . . , “Plugin N,” eachcorresponding to a respective one of the KPI modules 708. In theillustrated example, Plugin 1 contains content data for configuringModule 1; Plugin 2 contains content data for configuring Module 2;Plugin N contains content data for configuring Module N, and so on. Byleveraging known aspects of plugin models for adding and/or extendingfunctionality of application programs installed in a computing device,content plugins may serve as programmatic vessels of configuration datafor KPI modules. In example embodiments, the PA plugin I/F 710 may beconfigured to provide a predictable and uniform interface for installingcontent data from content plugins into KPI modules. The PA I/F 710 maybe implemented as programmatic instructions (e.g., software, firmware,etc.) and/or one or more hardware components or elements (e.g., a deviceor customized processor). Unlike conventional plugins, which typicallyinclude program instructions as well as data, content plugins mayinclude only content data used for KPI module configuration.

The PA database 716 may provide storage and database operations (e.g.,read/write, selection, retrieval, etc.) for PA data, including KPImeasurements, for example. The particular KPIs that are monitored andmeasured may depend on which KPIs are included in the base program 706and activated (unlocked) KPI modules, and on how the base program andactivated KPI modules are configured.

In example operation, the various components and elements identifiedabove may communicate with each other and/or exchange different types ofdata and information. More particularly, in PA operation applied to aparticular KPI, measurement and/or other data related to the particularKPI may be transferred as PA data 709 from the PA database 716 to the PAapplication program 702. Upon processing and/or analysis, correspondingPA GUI data 711 may be transmitted to the PA GUI 714 for display andfurther analysis or manipulation by a user working at the PA GUI 714.This is just one example of data flow in PA operation.

In another example of operation, a user at the PA GUI 714 may wish toview available KPIs—e.g., those which are part of the user'ssubscription (or the subscription of an organization/customer at whichthe user works)—that may not yet be installed and/or configured. Inaccordance with example embodiments, the PA GUI 714, with data andservices of the PA configuration program 704, may present an interactivegraphical gallery of content plugins that the user may peruse. In doingso, the PA configuration program 704 may retrieve gallery data 701 fromthe PA content plugin database 712, and provide corresponding contentgallery GUI data 703 to the PA GUI 714, as indicated. The user may theninteract with the display content gallery, for example by selecting aKPI module to configure. This could be one example of content galleryuser input 705 provided by the PA GUI 714 to the PA configurationprogram 704. Upon processing the received content gallery user input705, the PA configuration program could send selection data 707 to thePA content database 712, which could in turn provider a selected contentplugin as configuration content 709 to the PA plugin UF, as indicated.As described above, installation of the content plugin could thenconfigure a corresponding KPI module 708, making it ready for use by theuser.

Although not explicitly shown in FIG. 7, before configuring a particularselected KPI module, a user may first unlock the selected KPI moduleusing an unlocking plugin. In an example embodiment, a single, commonunlocking plugin may be used to unlock any previously locked KPI module,as long as it is part of the customer's subscription, or made availableby some similar arrangement. Once a user unlocks a selected KPI module,the user may then install the content plugin associated with theunlocked KPI module.

In a conventional plugin model, in which plugins may include programcode as well as data, there can be inter-plugin dependencies, such thatinstallation of one particular plugin may require that one or more otherplugins be installed as well. For example the one particular plugin mayrely on functionality provided in one of the other plugins. Resolvingsuch dependencies can thus involve a cascade of program codeinstallation, some of which may require installation in a privilegedmode of the host operating system. As a result, some conventional plugininstallations may fail if the user invoking them does not havesufficient privileges—e.g., administrator privileges—to install all theprogram elements needed to resolve the dependencies.

In the context of content plugins for KPI module configuration, atypical user who may be interested in configuring and using KPI modulesmay lack the sort of privileges required for conventional plugininstallation. Further, although content plugins may not include programinstructions or code, there may still be data interdependencies betweendifferent content plugins, some of which may require administratorprivileges (or a similar level of system privileges) in order toresolve. In anticipation of this scenario, example embodiments hereinaccount for potential interdependencies by ensuring all suchinterdependencies among content plugins available in the system areprior to deploying the system. More specifically, all available KPImodules—for example, all those included in a particular subscription—areknown when a system is deployed, or when a system may subsequently beupdated. Thus, it is possible to identify all possible interdependenciesamong the content plugins of the subscription, and therefore they mayall be resolved before any given user associated with the subscriptionattempts to install a plugin and configure a corresponding KPI module.As a further advantage, including resolution of interdependencies mayincur little if any additional system resources, such as memory andprocessing cycles.

In accordance with example embodiments, a plugin model for KPI moduleconfiguration may facilitate robust reliability and accuracy testing ofupdates to KPI modules and content data used for configuration. Moreparticularly, because content plugins may cleanly compartmentalizeconfiguration data, when the data for a particular plugin is updatedand/or the associate KPI module is updated, testing of the update(s)prior to live deployment may proceed in isolation from other plugins andKPI modules. This mode of testing therefore insulates the overall PAapplication and other KPI modules from disruptions and/or corruption aspotential problems and/or errors in individual updates may be discoveredand corrected. The result is enhanced efficiency of the process ofdeveloping and deploying updates to the PA system.

In further accordance with example embodiments, and related todeployment of PA system updates, the plugin model for KPI moduleconfiguration may also maintain stability of individual customers'existing, configured KPI modules. More specifically, a given customermay invest time, effort, and deliberation in the configurations of theiractive (unlocked) KPI modules. It may therefore be in the interest ofthe vendor or service provider, as well as the customer, to avoidunintended reconfigurations when updates to content plugins aredeployed. Content plugins may introduce a degree of predictability intothis process, such that changes to plugin content in an updated plugincan be screened for possible disruptive modifications to a customer'sexisting configurations controlled by the plugin. Such modifications maybe identified during the update process, and the corresponding customerconfigurations left intact by foregoing installation of the offendingupdates. Note that in some instances, an updated plugin may include newtables, records, variables, or the like, that may be introduced duringupdate rollout, without disturbing existing configuration data. Thus,content plugins may still accommodate partial updates while leavingexisting configurations untouched.

B. Example Content

The dashboards illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B include graphicalrepresentations of KPI data, as well as various GUI features for controland formatting of the data, launching functions and operations,selection of data and data ranges, and selection of tabs, to name a few.These and other aspects of dashboard appearance and function aredetermined according to both the programmatic construction of thedashboard, as coded instructions of a KPI module, for example, andconfiguration of the dashboard, as specified in the associated contentplugin. For example, the tabs 602 in the dashboard of FIG. 6A may bespecified in a data table that lists individual tabs to include andwhere to place them in the graphical representation of the dashboard.Similarly, the placement and format of the bar chart 604 may bespecified according to a data record associated with the KPI data, andincluding fields for defining appearance and formatting of the data. Asanother example, the section 608 of the dashboard includes three widgetsfor displaying various characteristics of the KPI data. The inclusionand placement of these widgets may also be determined according to atable of widgets in a configuration file. It will be appreciated thatthese are just a few examples of dashboard content and format that maybe specified by a content plugin associated with the KPI module. Thedashboard shown in FIG. 6B illustrates further examples.

In accordance with example embodiments, the richness of dashboardfunctionality, together with the array of options for formatting anddisplay of dashboard controls and KPI data, may be supported, in part,by an adjustable and/or customizable configuration provided in contentplugins. As noted, the configuration content data in a plugin mayinclude tables, records, variables, and parameters, among other dataspecifications. In order to streamline configuration of KPI modules andmake it convenient and efficient for users to install and prepare KPImodules for use in the PA application environment, content plugins maybe provided with default configurations in place. By doing so, a usermay start using a newly-installed KPI module simply unlocking it withthe unlocking plugin and configuring it by little more than aclick-to-install action on the PA GUI 714, for example.

Installation of the plugin then commences by transferring configurationdata specified in the selected content plugin into associate datadefinitions, structures, and the like, in the corresponding KPI module.Note that experienced or expert users may still customize configurationsbeyond or differently from the default provided in the content plugin.Non-limiting examples of customizing configurations may include changingquery definitions for indicators or breakdowns used in PA of a KPI,and/or changing permissions of dashboards to allow more or fewer (orspecific) users the ability to view and/or edit particular dashboards.But these types of configuration may also be set by default in contentplugins, so that expertise in configuring KPI modules is not necessaryfor installing and configuring them.

C. Example Content Gallery

As discussed above, the PA application program 702 may supportmonitoring and analysis of a large number of KPIs. Architecturallydividing this support between a base program 706 and multiple KPImodules 708 provides various advantages and benefits, also discussedabove. The PA configuration program 704 supports operations andfunctions by which a user may install and configure KPI modules asextensions to the base program.

In accordance with example embodiments, the PA configuration program 704may further operate to generate a graphical presentation of the multipleKPI modules available to a customer in the form of an organized galleryof content plugins. By interacting with the PA configuration program 704through content gallery, a user may peruse and navigate the multiple KPImodules that may be available, for example as part of a customersubscription. In example use, gallery organization may help a usersearch and find one or more KPI modules that address a KPImonitoring/analysis need of the user. In addition, the galleryorganization may introduce the user to KPI modules and PA capabilitiesthat the user might not necessarily otherwise become aware of. From thepoint of view of a system vendor or service provider, the ability to“educate” users about PA capabilities and specific KPI modules mayprovide incentive for the users/customers to utilize PA even more, andpossibly to consider adding KPI modules to their existing subscriptions.

FIG. 8A is an example illustration of a graphical content gallery 802,such as might be displayed in the PA GUI 714. By way of example, thecontent gallery is categorized as Analytics Solution Gallery 804, and isfurther sub-categorized as Recommended 806. It will be appreciated thatthese categories and sub-category are just examples of possibleorganizational components of the illustrated content gallery 802. Asshown, a number of content plugins are displayed in a list form,starting with an ITSM Dashboards plugin 808 at the top. Again thisorganization is just one possible example. Also by way of example, theITSM Dashboards plugin 808 has an identifying icon to the left and anInstall button 810 on the right. Specific labeling of other icons andfeatures of the display shown in FIG. 8A are omitted for brevity.

In an example embodiment, additional information about a plugin may beobtained by one or another interactive navigation-like action. Forexample, a cursor-click on the identifying icon of a plugin may open anadditional display containing descriptive details about the plugin andthe associated KPI module that becomes operational by configuring it.FIG. 8B is an example illustration of an additional display 812 thatcould include descriptive details 814 for the ITSM Dashboards plugin808. By way of example, the descriptive details 814 includes a shortnarrative description followed by identification of three dashboardsthat are part of the ITSM Dashboards 808 and sample illustrations of thethree dashboards. The install button 810 is also part of the expandedgraphical description of the ITSM Dashboards plugin 808.

By clicking on the install icon 810, a user could cause the PAconfiguration program 704 to send selection data 707 to the PA contentplugin database 712, causing the selected plugin to be retrieved andinstalled in the appropriate module of the KPI modules 708. By doing so,the user could begin to use the ITSM Dashboards 808, or any other KPImodule selected through the content gallery 802. Thus, the contentgallery makes it convenient to both explore available content pluginsand to install them.

VII. EXAMPLE METHOD

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment of a methodfor configuring a performance analytics (PA) software application. Themethod illustrated by FIG. 9 may be carried out by a computing device,such as computing device 100, and/or a cluster of computing devices,such as server cluster 200. However, the process can be carried out byother types of devices or device subsystems. For example, the processcould be carried out by a portable computer, such as a laptop or atablet device. In an example embodiment, the method illustrated in FIG.9 may be carried out by a computing device disposed within acomputational instance, such as instance 322, of a remote networkmanagement platform, such as platform 320, that remotely manages amanaged network, such as network 300. Further, the computing device maybe operational to execute a PA software application.

The embodiments of FIG. 9 may be simplified by the removal of any one ormore of the features shown therein. Further, these embodiments may becombined with features, aspects, and/or implementations of any of theprevious figures or otherwise described herein.

Block 900 may involve displaying a gallery of graphical identifiers in agraphical user interface (GUI) within the managed network. Each of theof graphical identifiers may identify a respective one of a plurality ofconfiguration plugins contained in a database disposed within thecomputational instance of the remote network management platform.Further, each of the plurality of configuration plugins may includecontent data for configuring a respective key performance indicator(KPI) application module of the PA software application, and eachrespective KPI application module may implement performance analyticsapplied to an associated KPI of the managed network. In thisarrangement, configuring the respective KPI application module specifiesa graphical configuration of a dashboard for displaying graphicalrepresentations of the associated KPI in the GUI. In exampleembodiments, a configuration plugin may be a content plugin, asdescribed above. Also, the term KPI application module isinterchangeable with just KPI module.

Block 902 may involve receiving input selecting one of the graphicalidentifiers. In particular, the selected graphical identifier identifiesa particular configuration plugin, and the input may be received via theGUI.

Block 904 may involve installing the particular configuration plugin inthe PA software application. In particular, the installation may be madevia a common plugin interface.

Finally, block 904 may involve configuring a particular KPI applicationmodule corresponding to the particular configuration plugin by writingthe content data of the particular configuration plugin to correspondingdata definitions of the particular KPI application module.

In some embodiments, displaying the gallery of graphical identifiers mayentail displaying each of the graphical identifiers with accompanyinginformation descriptive both of an identified configuration plugin andof a KPI and KPI application module corresponding to the identifiedconfiguration plugin. The accompanying information may include a textdescription of the corresponding KPI and KPI application module, agraphical representation of the corresponding KPI and KPI applicationmodule, or both.

In some embodiments, the example method may further entail identifyingthe particular KPI application module based on the particularconfiguration plugin prior to installing the particular configurationplugin, and determining if the particular KPI application module is anauthorized extension of the PA software application for thecomputational instance of the remote network management platform. Forexample, authorized extension may be those included as part of acustomer's subscription.

In some embodiments, the example method may further entail determiningwhich configuration plugins of the plurality correspond to KPIapplication modules that are authorized extensions of the PA softwareapplication for the computational instance of the remote networkmanagement platform, prior to displaying the gallery of graphicalidentifiers, and then including in the gallery only graphicalidentifiers associated with the authorized extensions. For example, thegallery may only display graphical identifiers for content pluginscorresponding to KPI modules that are part of a customer's subscription,and omit those that aren't.

In further accordance with example embodiments, data dependencies amongthose configuration plugins of the plurality are resolved prior toinstallation of any one of those configuration plugins. In an example,data dependencies may be resolved for content plugins that correspond toKPI modules that are authorized extensions of the PA softwareapplication. In this case installing the particular configuration pluginmay entail discovering at least one of the resolved dependencies.

In further accordance with example embodiments, one or more KPIapplication modules that are authorized extensions of the PA softwareapplication may be in a locked state that prevents their correspondingconfiguration plugins from being installed. In this case, the examplemethod may further entail providing a software key for unlocking lockedKPI application modules. More particularly unlocking a locked KPIapplication module may then enable its corresponding configurationplugin to be installed. The example method may then also entailreceiving, via the GUI, an input applying the software key to at leastone of the one or more locked KPI application modules.

In some embodiments, the computational instance of the remote networkmanagement platform that remotely manages a managed network mayimplement different tiers of security access. For example, there may bea first security tier of security access for administrative users and asecond security tier of access for non-administrative users, where thefirst security tier requires a higher level of access privileges thanthe second security tier. In accordance with example embodiments, andthe second tier of security access may be sufficient for installing theparticular configuration plugin. That is, non-administrative users mayinstall content plugins.

In some embodiments, the content data may include one or more datatables, where each entries in each table have predetermined values; andone or more data records, where each with where fields in each recordhave predetermined values. The example method may then further entailupdating the content data of one or more configuration plugins in thedatabase with updated content data. In particular, for each of the oneor more configuration plugins, the updated content data may includerespective revised data. In an example, the respective revised data maybe updated predetermined table-entry values, updated predeterminedrecord-field values, one or more additional data tables, or one or moreadditional data records. The example method may then also entaildetermining if any of the updated one or more configuration plugins arealready installed in the PA software application, and for each of theone or more configuration plugins that are already installed in the PAsoftware application, installing the respective revised data withoutoverwriting any existing table-entry values or any existing record-fieldvalues. As discussed above, this avoids overwriting the customer'sconfiguration with a system update, for example.

In further accordance with example embodiments, the example method mayfurther entail displaying an update alert indicator for each of the oneor more configuration plugins for which updated content is available,and receiving, via the GUI, an input causing updating of the contentdata for the one or more configuration plugins for which updated contentis available. This allows a customer to become aware of the availabilityof configuration updates, and to choose if and when to install thoseupdates.

VIII. CONCLUSION

The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particularembodiments described in this application, which are intended asillustrations of various aspects. Many modifications and variations canbe made without departing from its scope, as will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art. Functionally equivalent methods and apparatuseswithin the scope of the disclosure, in addition to those describedherein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoingdescriptions. Such modifications and variations are intended to fallwithin the scope of the appended claims.

The above detailed description describes various features and operationsof the disclosed systems, devices, and methods with reference to theaccompanying figures. The example embodiments described herein and inthe figures are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments can beutilized, and other changes can be made, without departing from thescope of the subject matter presented herein. It will be readilyunderstood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generallydescribed herein, and illustrated in the figures, can be arranged,substituted, combined, separated, and designed in a wide variety ofdifferent configurations.

With respect to any or all of the message flow diagrams, scenarios, andflow charts in the figures and as discussed herein, each step, block,and/or communication can represent a processing of information and/or atransmission of information in accordance with example embodiments.Alternative embodiments are included within the scope of these exampleembodiments. In these alternative embodiments, for example, operationsdescribed as steps, blocks, transmissions, communications, requests,responses, and/or messages can be executed out of order from that shownor discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order,depending on the functionality involved. Further, more or fewer blocksand/or operations can be used with any of the message flow diagrams,scenarios, and flow charts discussed herein, and these message flowdiagrams, scenarios, and flow charts can be combined with one another,in part or in whole.

A step or block that represents a processing of information cancorrespond to circuitry that can be configured to perform the specificlogical functions of a herein-described method or technique.Alternatively or additionally, a step or block that represents aprocessing of information can correspond to a module, a segment, or aportion of program code (including related data). The program code caninclude one or more instructions executable by a processor forimplementing specific logical operations or actions in the method ortechnique. The program code and/or related data can be stored on anytype of computer readable medium such as a storage device including RAM,a disk drive, a solid state drive, or another storage medium.

The computer readable medium can also include non-transitory computerreadable media such as computer readable media that store data for shortperiods of time like register memory and processor cache. The computerreadable media can further include non-transitory computer readablemedia that store program code and/or data for longer periods of time.Thus, the computer readable media may include secondary or persistentlong term storage, like ROM, optical or magnetic disks, solid statedrives, compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example. Thecomputer readable media can also be any other volatile or non-volatilestorage systems. A computer readable medium can be considered a computerreadable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device.

Moreover, a step or block that represents one or more informationtransmissions can correspond to information transmissions betweensoftware and/or hardware modules in the same physical device. However,other information transmissions can be between software modules and/orhardware modules in different physical devices.

The particular arrangements shown in the figures should not be viewed aslimiting. It should be understood that other embodiments can includemore or less of each element shown in a given figure. Further, some ofthe illustrated elements can be combined or omitted. Yet further, anexample embodiment can include elements that are not illustrated in thefigures.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, otheraspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purpose ofillustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scopebeing indicated by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for configuring a performance analytics(PA) software application, wherein the system is disposed within acomputational instance of a remote network management platform thatremotely manages a managed network, the system comprising: a databasecontaining a plurality of configuration plugins, each comprising contentdata for configuring a respective key performance indicator (KPI)application module, wherein the content data comprises one or more datatables and one or more data records, wherein each of the one or moredata tables comprises table entries with predetermined values and eachof the one or more data records comprises fields with predeterminedvalues, wherein each respective KPI application module implementsperformance analytics applied to an associated KPI of the managednetwork, and wherein configuring the respective KPI application modulespecifies a graphical configuration of a dashboard for displayinggraphical representations of the associated KPI in a graphical userinterface (GUI) within the managed network; and a computing deviceoperational to execute both the PA software application and aPA-configuring software program, wherein the PA-configuring softwareprogram is configured to: display, in the GUI, a gallery of graphicalidentifiers, each identifying a respective one of the plurality ofconfiguration plugins, receive, via the GUI, input selecting one of thegraphical identifiers, the selected graphical identifier identifying aparticular configuration plugin, install in the PA software application,via a common plugin interface, the particular configuration plugin,configure a particular KPI application module corresponding to theparticular configuration plugin by writing the content data of theparticular configuration plugin to corresponding data definitions of theparticular KPI application module; update the content data of one ormore configuration plugins of the plurality of configuration plugins inthe database with updated content data, wherein for each of the one ormore configuration plugins, the updated content data comprisesrespective revised data, and wherein the respective revised datacomprises: updated predetermined table-entry values, updatedpredetermined record-field values, one or more additional data tables,or one or more additional data records, or a combination thereof;determine if any of the updated one or more configuration plugins arealready installed in the PA software application; and install theupdated content data without overwriting any existing table-entry valuesor any existing record-field values for each of the one or moreconfiguration plugins that are already installed in the PA softwareapplication.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the graphicalidentifiers is displayed in the gallery with accompanying informationdescriptive both of an identified configuration plugin and of a KPI andKPI application module corresponding to the identified configurationplugin, the accompanying information comprising a text description ofthe corresponding KPI and KPI application module, a graphicalrepresentation of the corresponding KPI and KPI application module, or acombination thereof.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein thePA-configuring software program is configured to: prior to installingthe particular configuration plugin, identify the particular KPIapplication module based on the particular configuration plugin; anddetermine if the particular KPI application module is an authorizedextension of the PA software application for the computational instanceof the remote network management platform.
 4. The system of claim 1,wherein the PA-configuring software program is configured to: prior todisplaying the gallery of graphical identifiers, determine whichconfiguration plugins of the plurality correspond to KPI applicationmodules that are authorized extensions of the PA software applicationfor the computational instance of the remote network managementplatform; and include in the gallery only graphical identifiersassociated with the authorized extensions.
 5. The system of claim 4,wherein data dependencies among those configuration plugins of theplurality that correspond to KPI application modules that are authorizedextensions of the PA software application are resolved prior toinstallation of any one of those configuration plugins, and wherein theparticular configuration plugin being installed comprises discovery ofat least one of the resolved dependencies.
 6. The system of claim 4,wherein one or more KPI application modules that are authorizedextensions of the PA software application are in a locked state thatprevents their corresponding configuration plugins from being installed,and wherein the PA-configuring software program is configured to:provide a software key for unlocking locked KPI application modules,wherein unlocking a locked KPI application module enables itscorresponding configuration plugin to be installed; and receive, via theGUI, an input applying the software key to at least one of the one ormore locked KPI application modules.
 7. The system of claim 1, whereinthe computational instance of the remote network management platformthat remotely manages a managed network implements at least a firstsecurity tier of access for administrative users and a second securitytier of access for non-administrative users, the first security tierrequiring a higher level of access privileges than the second securitytier, and wherein the second tier of security access is sufficient forinstallation of the particular configuration plugin.
 8. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the PA-configuring software program is configured to:display an update alert indicator for each of the one or moreconfiguration plugins for which updated content is available; andreceive, via the GUI, an input causing updating of the content data forthe one or more configuration plugins for which updated content isavailable.
 9. A method for configuring a performance analytics (PA)software application, wherein the method is carried out by a computingdevice disposed within a computational instance of a remote networkmanagement platform that remotely manages a managed network, and whereinthe computing device is operational to execute the PA softwareapplication, the method comprising: in a graphical user interface (GUI)within the managed network, displaying a gallery of graphicalidentifiers, each identifying a respective one of a plurality ofconfiguration plugins contained in a database disposed within thecomputational instance of the remote network management platform,wherein each of the plurality of configuration plugins comprises contentdata for configuring a respective key performance indicator (KPI)application module of the PA software application, wherein the contentdata comprises one or more data tables and one or more data records,wherein each of the one or more data tables comprises table entries withpredetermined values and each of the one or more data records comprisesfields with predetermined values, wherein each respective KPIapplication module implements performance analytics applied to anassociated KPI of the managed network, and wherein configuring therespective KPI application module specifies a graphical configuration ofa dashboard for displaying graphical representations of the associatedKPI in the GUI; receiving, via the GUI, input selecting one of thegraphical identifiers, the selected graphical identifier identifying aparticular configuration plugin; installing in the PA softwareapplication, via a common plugin interface, the particular configurationplugin, configuring a particular KPI application module corresponding tothe particular configuration plugin by writing the content data of theparticular configuration plugin to corresponding data definitions of theparticular KPI application module; updating the content data of one ormore configuration plugins in the database with updated content data,wherein for each of the one or more configuration plugins, the updatedcontent data comprises respective revised data, wherein the respectiverevised data comprises: updated predetermined table-entry values,updated predetermined record-field values, one or more additional datatables, or one or more additional data records, or a combinationthereof; determining if any of the updated one or more configurationplugins are already installed in the PA software application; andinstalling the respective revised data without overwriting any existingtable-entry values or any existing record-field values for each of theone or more configuration plugins that are already installed in the PAsoftware application.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein displaying thegallery of graphical identifiers comprises displaying each of thegraphical identifiers with accompanying information descriptive both ofan identified configuration plugin and of a KPI and KPI applicationmodule corresponding to the identified configuration plugin, theaccompanying information comprising: a text description of thecorresponding KPI and KPI application module, a graphical representationof the corresponding KPI and KPI application module, or a combinationthereof.
 11. The method of claim 9, comprising: prior to installing theparticular configuration plugin, identifying the particular KPIapplication module based on the particular configuration plugin; anddetermining if the particular KPI application module is an authorizedextension of the PA software application for the computational instanceof the remote network management platform.
 12. The method of claim 9,comprising: prior to displaying the gallery of graphical identifiers,determining which configuration plugins of the plurality correspond toKPI application modules that are authorized extensions of the PAsoftware application for the computational instance of the remotenetwork management platform; and including in the gallery only graphicalidentifiers associated with the authorized extensions.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, wherein data dependencies among those configuration plugins ofthe plurality that correspond to KPI application modules that areauthorized extensions of the PA software application are resolved priorto installation of any one of those configuration plugins, and whereinthe particular configuration plugin being installed comprisesdiscovering at least one of the resolved dependencies.
 14. The method ofclaim 12, wherein one or more KPI application modules that areauthorized extensions of the PA software application are in a lockedstate that prevents their corresponding configuration plugins from beinginstalled, and wherein the method comprises: providing a software keyfor unlocking locked KPI application modules, wherein unlocking a lockedKPI application module enables its corresponding configuration plugin tobe installed; and receiving, via the GUI, an input applying the softwarekey to at least one of the one or more locked KPI application modules.15. The method of claim 9, wherein the computational instance of theremote network management platform that remotely manages a managednetwork implements at least a first security tier of access foradministrative users and a second security tier of access fornon-administrative users, the first security tier requiring a higherlevel of access privileges than the second security tier, and whereinthe second tier of security access is sufficient for installing theparticular configuration plugin.
 16. The method of claim 9, comprising:displaying an update alert indicator for each of the one or moreconfiguration plugins for which updated content is available; andreceiving, via the GUI, an input causing updating of the content datafor the one or more configuration plugins for which updated content isavailable.
 17. An article of manufacture including a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having stored thereon program instructions forconfiguring a performance analytics (PA) software application, wherein acomputing device operational to execute the PA software application isdisposed within a computational instance of a remote network managementplatform that remotely manages a managed network, and wherein theprogram instructions, upon execution by the computing device, cause thecomputing device to perform operations comprising: in a graphical userinterface (GUI) within the managed network, displaying a gallery ofgraphical identifiers, each identifying a respective one of a pluralityof configuration plugins contained in a database disposed within thecomputational instance of the remote network management platform,wherein each of the plurality of configuration plugins comprises contentdata for configuring a respective key performance indicator (KPI)application module of the PA software application, wherein the contentdata comprises one or more data tables and one or more data records,wherein each of the one or more data tables comprises table entries withpredetermined values and each of the one or more data records comprisesfields with predetermined values, wherein each respective KPIapplication module implements performance analytics applied to anassociated KPI of the managed network, and wherein configuring therespective KPI application module specifies a graphical configuration ofa dashboard for displaying graphical representations of the associatedKPI in the GUI; receiving, via the GUI, input selecting one of thegraphical identifiers, the selected graphical identifier identifying aparticular configuration plugin; installing in the PA softwareapplication, via a common plugin interface, the particular configurationplugin, configuring a particular KPI application module corresponding tothe particular configuration plugin by writing the content data of theparticular configuration plugin to corresponding data definitions of theparticular KPI application module; updating the content data of one ormore configuration plugins in the database with updated content data,wherein for each of the one or more configuration plugins, the updatedcontent data comprises respective revised data, wherein the respectiverevised data comprises: updated predetermined table-entry values,updated predetermined record-field values, one or more additional datatables, or one or more additional data records, or a combinationthereof; determining if any of the updated one or more configurationplugins are already installed in the PA software application; andinstalling the respective revised data without overwriting any existingtable-entry values or any existing record-field values for each of theone or more configuration plugins that are already installed in the PAsoftware application.
 18. The article of manufacture of claim 17,wherein the PA-configuring software program is configured to: prior todisplaying the gallery of graphical identifiers, determine whichconfiguration plugins of the plurality correspond to KPI applicationmodules that are authorized extensions of the PA software applicationfor the computational instance of the remote network managementplatform; and include in the gallery only graphical identifiersassociated with the authorized extensions.
 19. The article ofmanufacture of claim 18, one or more KPI application modules that areauthorized extensions of the PA software application are in a lockedstate that prevents their corresponding configuration plugins from beinginstalled, and wherein the PA-configuring software program is configuredto: provide a software key for unlocking locked KPI application modules,wherein unlocking a locked KPI application module enables itscorresponding configuration plugin to be installed; and receive, via theGUI, an input applying the software key to at least one of the one ormore locked KPI application modules.
 20. The article of manufacture ofclaim 17, wherein the PA-configuring software program is configured to:display an update alert indicator for each of the one or moreconfiguration plugins for which updated content is available; andreceive, via the GUI, an input causing an update of the content data forthe one or more configuration plugins for which updated content isavailable.